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PartTwo
Present Day
Chapter5
Kennedy
I read the headline on my phone, but I struggled to reconcile the news story was about my casino project. The one Knight was trying to destroy. I turned the screen over on my desk. I couldn’t look at it again. It also hid the texts and calls from Knight. I had no plans to answer any of them. He got what he wanted. I wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of hearing the pain in my voice.
“Good morning,” Renee marched into my office. She tossed her briefcase in an open chair and poured a cup of coffee.
“I don’t think we see the morning the same way.” How did she smile under these circumstances?
“It’s a setback. Only a setback.” She sipped her coffee. “I have a meeting set up with a new lobbyist at two today.”
She didn’t know about the emotional grenade the chain of events from the Crescent Towers had set off. This wasn’t solely about losing the biggest deal of my career, it was about being stabbed in the back by the one person I trusted.
“Oh?” I raised my eyebrows. “Who is the new lobbyist?”
“She has connections to both Senators Merritt and Hyde. She’s been recommended by a friend.”
I turned my back on my attorney. Even from this distance I could see the crane hovering next to the Crescent Towers construction site from my window. I could also pick out the Vieux Carre from here. They were in different directions.
“Kennedy?”
“Hmm?”
“I was trying to tell you about Victoria Banks. The new lobbyist.”
I peered closely at the boutique hotel, as if I could make out an athletic build in an expensive suit exiting the front lobby. I wondered if Knight had found my note. Did he realize I had left the necklace with it? Was he looking for me? Or did things go according to plan? My chest tightened with the realization that the entire night together was more than likely a setup. The first battle point went to him, but he wasn’t going to win the war.
I had said and done things last night that exposed the cracks in my armor. It was okay. I had more armor lying around.
“Kennedy.” Renee sounded testy.
I spun on my heels. “Get Victoria in here. I want in on the meeting.”
“It’s at two. I’ll tell her—”
“No,” I corrected her. “Now. Get her in here now.”
“But—”
My eyes were as cutting as my voice. Renee backtracked her steps. “All right. I’ll see if she can rearrange her morning.”
“Good. And send Crew in for me on your way out.”
Within a matter of minutes my assistant stepped inside the glass doors.
“You look horrible.” I stared at him. There were dark circles under his blue eyes. His shirt was wrinkled. “I take that back—it’s worse. You look like you slept in the office.”
“Sorry.” He shook his head.
“Did you sleep on the couch?”
“It was a late night. We were all here,” he answered. He looked away, but I got the message. My team was here trying to put out a fire while I was in the Vieux Carre suite. Crew had no idea how much I wished I could change the decision I made last night. My stomach twisted in knots every time I thought about Knight’s hands canvassing my body.
“Thank you.” I tried to soften my tone. “For working so late.”
